Zach Spear
Posted earlier this week, the support article advises users of a workaround but makes no mention of any forthcoming corrective updates to iWork '08. The latest version, iWork '09, was unveiled at Macworld last month with updates to Keynote, Pages, and Numbers along with a new online service called iWork.com.
Apple instructs users to save their documents as iWork '08 files if they need compatibility with the older version. While Apple used Keynote '09 as an example in the screenshots, the same issue affects the entire suite.
"If you save your slideshow as an iWork '09 document, you will not be able to open it with iWork '08," according to Apple. "This applies to Numbers '08, Keynote '08, and Pages '08 documents you open and save using iWork '09."
The Cupertino-based Mac maker warns users that any attempts to open iWork '09 documents with iWork '08 will result in the following message:
Anyone who is merely upgrading to the next version can take consolation in iWork '09's backward compatibility, meaning the new version can still open their existing iWork '08 files.
Ironically, Apple released an update to iWork '08 earlier this month that promised to address "general compatibility issues" without specifying what issues were being corrected.
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46 Comments
I know bugs are to be expected with software updates, but one would think that compatibility is one of the major things they check for.
I know bugs are to be expected with software updates, but one would think that compatibility is one of the major things they check for.
But this isn't a "bug" per se.
I take issue with this article in that it implies that there is some kind of "new issue" with compatibility and that Apple has just issued a "warning" about it or something, when in fact this is the expected (and already known) behaviour and functionality of the product isn't it?
Why is this being framed as some kind of scary problem, when this is almost standard procedure in the software world for years and years???
I know bugs are to be expected with software updates, but one would think that compatibility is one of the major things they check for.
It does seem quite daft on Apple's part.
What's the problem? I see this as a non-issue. Why is it news worthy that a previous version of some software can't open files from the new version? Now, if you saved in `08 format from within `09 and `08 couldn't open the files, that'd be interesting. But this is a complete non-story.
- Jasen.
Could iWork '06 open files saved in an iWork '08 format?